Death came to visit

Prior to my near death from Aortic Dissection i lived a fairly normal life. The day before it happened i was enjoying time with my granddaughter and after all of the activities i was very fatigued and suffering a bit of lower back and abominal pain. i awoke with a little abbdominal pain the next morning, but i attributed it to a breakfast that hadn't settled well. i went to work (as an auto mechanic) and exerted a lot of stres on my arms and chest while replacing a part that i had ordered. i then continued to work on the car and was presented with extreme pain in the middle of my back and centered near my diaphragm. I brushed it off as a pulled muscle, but when I started to feel nauseous and dizzy, I asked my co-worker to call 911 as i thought I was having a heart attack. The pain progressed and i collapsed onto my mechanics creeper as I could no longer remain standing. My co-workers brought me aspirin and tried to keep me calm while we awaited the ambulance. I was stretchered to the ambulance and the began an IV and adminitered nitro tablets while they ran an EKG. We were initially going to a regional hospital, but my boss insisted that we divert to the excellent heart hospital about 20 miles away. The emergency department ran tests for a cardic event, but all proved inconclusive. i was moved from triage into the hall to await further tests, and I figured that the whole ordeal was minor and that I would return to work the following day. i arrived at the hospital at around 9:30am. Around 3pm or so a wonderful PC saw that I was turning gray and further tests were ordered, an XRAY and CT Scan. Around 4:30pm or so I was suddenly inundated with medical staff and prepped for surgery. I awoke the next day at 8am in an ICU recovery room, having been informed that I had just survived and Ascending Aortic Dissection. Later I was diagnosed with a descending dissection as well. 5 weeks later i was released from the hospital.